


Theatrics

by AfflictedwithAlliteration



Series: The Papyrus Files [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Attempted Character Study(ies), Drabbles, Gen, One-Shots, Papyrus Bingo, Specific Tags are in Works, Undertale aus, vignette style
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:02:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23412763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AfflictedwithAlliteration/pseuds/AfflictedwithAlliteration
Summary: If the child wanted to play, well, Papyrus had always thought he was an excellent actor.
Series: The Papyrus Files [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1683640
Kudos: 10





	Theatrics

**Author's Note:**

> WARNINGS: Genocide Run, Language, Insinuations of Death, Violence, Angst, Absurdism, Attempted Humor  
> AU: Underfell  
> Bingo Prompt(s): "Faked Death", "Last Words", "OH GEE, FLOWEY HASN'T SHOWN UP YET. THAT'S SUSPICIOUS!"

When he and Sans were young, Sans often humored him. 

It wasn't subtle, Sans was about as subtle as a Mettaton, which is to say not at all. But Papyrus had appreciated it nonetheless because so few people actually played with children. They shooed them away with promises of tomorrow or sighs of being busy. But not Sans. Sans, with all the acting skill of a piece of parchment, tried to play whatever role Papyrus cast him in. Papyrus, on the other hand, he was brilliant ~~maybe more than Mettaton, his idol~~ at it. So brilliant, he even fooled himself sometimes. 

~~Fooled himself into thinking everything was okay.~~

But that was all the better because the child seemed to like the realism. Clinging to it like a demented security blanket in the most fucked up game of house Papyrus had ever been privy too. This too was fine because eventually the child would get bored and play a different game, right? Right. He just had to let them get it out of their system. And sometimes, just sometimes, the skeleton missed those days. Days where he too could play endlessly without a care and without repercussion. Days where everything was as it should have been. And if Sans wouldn't reenact them with him, the child could at least give him the same sense of nostalgia. 

Which is why when he walked through the forest, flurries of snow attempting to blind him, he cleared his throat and-

"OH GEE, FLOWEY HASN'T SHOWN UP YET. THAT'S SUSPICIOUS!"

Several times in the past ten minutes he had seen flickers of yellow of the corner of his eyes. Thought he heard laughter on the wind, and really it was setting up to be a great game this time!

"WOWIE, I AM ALL BY MYSELF. ALONE IN THE FOREST-"

The knife flew by his head, crashing into the snow, the gray dust on it being cleaned off and staining the snow as he did. It almost broke the ambiance until both the child and Flowey stepped out from trees. The child looked smug and prideful, how cute! They thought they had pulled one over on a monster like himself. It took all of his skill not to laugh outright.

"OH THERE YOU ARE, HUMAN. I HAD BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU, NOW YOU CAN COME WITH-FLOWEY? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

The flower had wrapped itself through his bones, stopping him from moving as he had been. Tightening in what Papyrus was sure the flower monster thought was painful. Dutifully he collapsed to his knees as the child approached and grabbed their knife.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, HUMAN?"

They giggled right before attacking. It hurt, enough to actually make him grunt, Flowey finally finishing what he started in an explosion of bones and pellets. From where he head rolled he could see his leg stuck in a tree. That was going to be a pain to get down later but first his last words-

"OH COME ON! YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT, I PROMISE."

Their foot is on his face now, and his next mission will be to teach the child some manners because shoe prints on his face are not attractive. As they press down, uses his magic to cough up the dust he'd been storing. Which is no easy feat when you're just a head and just proves his acting skills are the best. Clearly the job is done and Flowey is already gone, the laughter that had started the encounter gone. He waits all of ten minutes until he hears the crunching of feet on snow ~~and if he's relieved to hear it because that means the dust wasn't his brothers, noone will ever know~~.

Clearing his throat he bemoans his fate, mostly to annoy the shorter skeleton staring at him incredulously.

"OH NO! I HAVE BEEN VANQUISHED-"

"What _the fuck_ are ya doin'?"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING? ENTERTAINING MYSELF BECAUSE YOU'RE LATE! FOR FUCKS SAKE, SANS! WOULD IT KILL YOU TO BE ON TIME FOR ONCE? IF YOU HAD BEEN MY ARM WOULDN'T BE BE STUCK HALFWAY ACROSS THE FOREST!"

"Ya know what? Never mind, I don't wanna know what happened."

"SEE? THIS IS WHY NO ONE PLAYS WITH YOU."

"Do ya want your body back or not?"

"OH, JUST HURRY UP. I DON'T WANT TO MISS UNDYNE'S PERFORMANCE. MINE IS BETTER THAN HERS AND SHE KNOWS IT."

"Better be, I bet good money on this shit."

Though he was wrong, the fish monsters acting skills are so great that the dust almost looks real.

~~Because it is real.~~

**Author's Note:**

> 4/25 [bingo prompts](https://golden-echo-flowers.tumblr.com/) done, whoo! I'm enjoying these :D


End file.
